Articulated railway car connector and truck



4, 1969 z. o. KARAKASHIAN E AL ,476,040

ARTICULATED RAILWAY CAR CONNECTOR AND TRUCK 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 2, 1967 Nov. 4, 1969 z Q R s m ET AL 3,476,040

ARTICULATED RAILWAY CAR CONNECTOR AND TRUCK Filed June 2, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 3,476,040 ARTICULATED RAILWAY CAR CONNECTOR AND TRUCK Zaven Oganezovich Karakashian, Ulitsa Dobroljubova 18, kv. 46; Vladimir Ivanovich Lariokhin, Malaya Naberezhnaya 15, kv. 8; and Valentin Mikhailovich Kazakov, Stantsia Ozherelie, Zheleznoi Dorogi, ulitsa Klubnaya 3, kv. 8; all of Moscow, U.S.S.R.

Filed June 2, 1967, Ser. No. 643,202

. Int. Cl. B61d 17/00; B61f 3/12; B61g /02 US. Cl. 105--4 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Adjacent sections of an articulated railroad car having a common support bogie are coupled by means of a joint consisting of a lug with a heel secured to one of the sections and a tongue secured to the other of the sections and inserted between upper and lower legs of the lug. A pivot connects the lug and tongue and includes a central portion with spherical projections each bounded by parallel side planes, the tongue having a spherical recess receiving the projections. In order to insert the pin into the spherical recess in the tongue, the wall of the hole in the tongue is provided with cylindrical grooves which are concentric in relation to the opening at the upper rim of the tongue which receive the projections of the pivot such that when the pivot is subsequently turned, the projections fit into the spherical recess.

The present invention relates to vehicles and more particularly to devices for adjacent rolling-stock sections having a common support bogie, for instance articulated railway carriages.

Known in the art are devices comprising a lug with a heel and a tongue fixed on the respective cantilever members of adjacent sections and interconnected by means of a pivot.

A disadvantage of the known devices for connecting adjacent sections of rolling stock is the eccentric transmission of longitudinal (tensile and compressive) forces acting on the device during shunting and travelling of a railway carriage in a train.

Another disadvantage of the known devices is the contact which is made between the tongue and the lug during the transmission of horizontal and vertical forces to the heel assembly, since this produces additional bending moments and Wear of the elements of said device.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate said disadvantages by providing a device for connecting adjacent and common support-bogie sections of the rolling stock, which transmits longitudinal forces at the level of the coupling axes of the railroad cars without eccentricity and transmits vertical load to the common bogie without contact between the lug and the tongue.

This object is achieved in a device for connecting adjacent and common support-bogie sections of the rolling stock and comprising a lug with a heel and a tongue hingedly connected through a pivot, by providing said pivot in its middle part with projections having spherical surfaces and two parallel side surfaces, and said tongue, inserted between the upper and lower legs of a lug, with a spherical recess in the wall of its hole, the dimensions and shape of said spherical recess being matched with those of the spherical projections of said pivot.

The wall of the hole in the tongue has vertical cylindrical slots concentric with the upper rim of said hole for receiving the spherical projections of the pivot in assembling the device, said projections of the pivot being matched with said recess of the tongue when the pivot is turned subsequently.

3,476,040 Patented Nov. 4, 1969 To strengthen the middle part of the pivot, cylindrical projections are provided between the parallel planes enclosing the spherical projections of the pivot, said cylindrical projections having a contour matching that of the upper rim of the hole in the tongue.

The lower leg of the lug is made integral with the support heel, the latter being provided with an internal circular lubricating groove and holes leading to its bearing surface.

The proposed device provides for the transmission of longitudinal forces at the level of the coupling axes without any eccentricity in the application of these forces on the parts of said device and the frame of adjacent sections, as well as for the transmission of vertical load onto the common support bogie of these sections, without contact of the lug and the tongue even when the spherical projections and support surface of the pivot become worn.

Thus, the design of said device provided maximum strength and durability combined with minimum overall dimensions and weight.

An embodiment of the present invention for a device for connecting adjacent sections of an articulated tank car is described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an articulated tank car;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view partly broken away and in section, of a device for connecting adjacent sections of the articulated tank car;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the device;

FIG. 4 is a side view, partly broken away and in section, of the device;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a pivot of the device; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a tongue of the device.

In FIGURE 1 is shown an articulated tank car which consists of 3, 4 and 5 of which the middle support bogie 4 is 3, 4 and 5, one of said bogies-the middle one 4- being common for sections 1 and 2.

Fixed on frames 6 and 7 of sections 1 and 2 at the side of common support bogie are cantilever members 8 and 9 (FIGS. 2 and 3). The device for connecting sections 1 and 2 of the tank car comprises a lug 10 fastened to the cantilever member 8 and a tongue 11 fixed on the cantilever 9.

The lug 10 has an upper leg 12 and a lower leg 13. the tongue 11 being inserted therebetween.

The upper leg 12 and the lower leg 13 of the lug 10 as well as the tongue 11 have coaxial holes for receiving a pivot 14 connecting the lug 10 with the tongue 11. The middle part of the pivot 14 has projections 15 (FIG. 5) with spherical surfaces 16 and two parallel side planes 17, while the wall of the hole of the tongue 11 is provided with a spherical recess 18 (FIG. 6) corresponding in shape to the projections 15 of the pivot 14.

The wall of the hole in tongue 11 has vertical cylindrical slots 19 which are concentric in relation to the upper rim of said hole and are adapted for receiving the spherical projections 15 of the pivot 14 when assembling the device, said projections being matched with said recess 18 of the tongue 11 when the pivot 14 is turned subsequently.

In order to strengthen the middle part of the pivot 14, vertical cylindrical projections 20 (FIG. 5) are provided between the planes 17, the contour of said vertical projections 20 matching that of the upper rim of the hole of the tongue 11.

The upper part of the pivot 14 is constructed as a cylindrical disk 21 with holes 22 for pins 23 (FIG. 3), by means of which the pivot 14 is fastened to the upper leg 12 of the lug 10 in order to prevent said pivot 14 from turning.

Above and below the spherical projections 15, the pivot 14 is provided with cylindrical surfaces 24 and 25 through which longitudinal loads from said pivot are transmitted to the upper and lower legs of the lug 10.

The lower cylindrical part 26 of the pivot 14 freely fits in the hole 30 of a heel 3 (shown spaced from the heel 27) located on the common support bogie 4.

The lower leg 13 of the lug is made integral with the support heel 27 (FIG. 2), due to which the latter resists the vertical bending load only from the weight of one section of a tank car.

The vertical load from the weight of the adjacent section 2 is resisted by the pivot 14 and transmitted to the heel.

For lubrication of the heel assembly in FIG. 2, a circular groove 28 (FIG. 4) and holes 29 (FIG. 2) are provided inside the heel 27, said groove and said holes communicating with the bearing surface of heel 27.

The adjacent surfaces of the tongue 11 and the legs 12 and 13 of the lug 10 are provided with respective chamfers 32, 33 (FIG. 2) which in turn provide gaps to allow the tongue 11 to turn freely between the legs 12 and 13 of the lug 10 both in horizontal and vertical planes without contact between the tongue 11 and the lug 10, thus increasing the operation life of the device as a whole.

The proposed device for connecting adjacent sections of an articulated tank car provides for the turning of the cantilever member of one tank section in relation to that ,of the adjacent section by more than 180, which makes it feasible for the tank car to negotiate tracks with minimum radii of curvature.

The present device also provides for reciprocal turning of the adjacent sections in a vertical plane at an angle of up to 0.11 radians (618'), which makes it possible for the tank car to negotiate adjoining locations of steep slopes both upwardly and downwardly.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for connecting adjacent sections of a railroad car having a common support bogie, said device comprising a lug with a heel secured to one of the sections, said lug including upper and lower legs; a tongue secured to the other of said sections and inserted between the upper and lower legs of said lug; a pivot connecting said lug and said tongue and including a central portion with projections having spherical surfaces and two parallel side planes; said tongue having a hole receiving the pivot with a wall having a spherical recess corresponding to the spherical surfaces of the projections of said pivot, said wall of the hole of said tongue defining a circular opening at the upper rim of the tongue, said wall being provided with cylindrical grooves concentric in relation to said opening at the upper rim to receive said projections of the pivot when the device is being assembled, said projections of the pivot fitting into said recess when the pivot is turned subsequently.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said central portion of the pivot includes cylindrical projections between said parallel planes dimensioned to fit in the opening at the upper rim of said hole when said pivot is inserted thereinto.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lower leg of said lug is integral with said heel.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heel is provided with an internal circular lubrication groove and holes leading from the groove to the bearing surface of said heel.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tongue has upper and lower edges with chamfers thereat.

6. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said legs of the lug have inner surfaces facing the tongue which are chamfered where they join the remainder of the lug.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,682,517 8/1928 Houston l05175 2,700,454 1/1955 Blattner 105-200 3,354,836 11/1967 Willison et al. 1053 3,396,673 8/1968 Livelsberger et al. 213-- X ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner H. BELTRAN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

